6th American Cup: the biggest thrills and the greatest images of day 1

Manny Diaz was the big name of brown belt at the 6th American Cup

The first day of the 6th American Cup was divided between kids and adults and seniors.

Since early in the morning, more than 400 kids took on the mats to display a lot of heart and technique.

At the end, around 3PM, the kids teams’competition was the following:

Kids

1st – Coalition 95 – 131pts

2nd – Guerrilla JJ – 123pts

3rd – Rice Brothers BJJ – 106pts

Then it was time for the grown-ups.

The highlights were:

Kaniela Kahuanui defeated Richard Ison 2-0 (sweep) for the blue belt male adult open class gold. Among the ladies, Candace Stump beat Cleo Mann for the absolute gold.

Brooke Goldsworthy (Crispim BJJ) honored her own name in San Jose. The 36-years-old, mother of three boys, caught Brigette Barnato in the only fight of the brown belt adult female absolute. “I started training almost ten years ago, but I had to stop after only ten months. I stayed away for seven years and had three boys. Three years ago I decided to come back”, she told us.

Local talent Manuel Diaz (Caio Terra BJJ) was the adult male open class brown belt champion. He had three fights to get the gold: “I tapped out all my opponents, two armbars and one choke from the back.” The choke was saved for the big final, against Julian Marquez (Ralph Gracie), the middleweight champion. Former professional golfer, Manny has a new passion: “Now I only work and train Jiu-Jitsu”.

The teams’results at the end of the day is:

Adult Female

MARIN MMA – 21pts

RALPH GRACIE – 19pts

COALITION95 – 15pts

CRISPIM BJJ BARRA BROTHERS – 12pts

10TH PLANET – 9pts

Adult Male

COALITION95 – 38pts

CAIO TERRA BJJ – 30pts

RALPH GRACIE – 28pts

KAIJIN – 22pts

SMASH GYMS – 12pts

 Master / Senior

RALPH GRACIE – 69pts

COALITION95 – 66pts

HEROES MARTIAL ARTS – 24pts

YEMASO BJJ – 22pts

DDR JIU JITSU – 18pts

For the complete results of the day, go to americancupbjj.com

Here is an exclusive photo gallery of day 1 in San Jose.

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The action resumes tomorrow, 9:30AM, when the black belts come to action.

Follow the full coverage on GRACIEMAG’s Google+ Page.